"Faith, like light, should always be simple and unbending; while love, like warmth, should beam forth on every side and bend to every necessity of our brethren." Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Simple faith, responsive love. What wisdom.

Hold on to the truth that Christ died...Christ lives...Christ will come again.

But allow everything else to flex to the needs of our brothers and sisters. All the add-ons, like creedal statements, political positions, and moral decisions, are to be worked out in the embrace of love.

I envision one of those dramatic scenes where a distraught individual is pulling away from and flailing at a person who loves them and is holding them tightly, until the upset soul collapses into the embrace of love, and healing begins.

Or consider the unresponsive individual, who repeats the same frustrating failure ad nauseum, or who is unable to trust offered help. The warmth of love in this case persists at a respectful distance, sending wave after wave of presence and patient waiting, until the very constancy of it makes a breach in the wall of defense, and healing begins.